When Shohei Ohtani made the decision to leave Anaheim to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a record 10-year, $700 million contract last December, he had a handful of teams prepared to offer him the same — or similar — deals.
Notably missing from that group were the Los Angeles Angels, for whom Ohtani played six seasons. At the time, it was reported that Angels owner Arte Moreno had declined to match the $700 million offer on the table for Ohtani, effectively ending the generational talent’s tenure in Anaheim.
Speculation remained that Ohtani would have preferred to remain with the Angels, though as the Los Angeles Times‘ Jack Harris reports, Ohtani is making it clear that a serious offer from Moreno’s team was never on the table.
“In reality, I wasn’t made an offer, so I can’t say,” Ohtani said, according to Harris, when asked if he would have re-signed with the Angels. “I’m doing my best with (the Dodgers), and I’m doing my best with the goal of winning the World Series. I think I’m fine with that.”
Instead of rehashing the divorce between himself and the Angels, though, Ohtani chooses to remain focused on his current team and how they value him.
“Rather than think about what the Angels did or didn’t do, I’m grateful for the teams that evaluated me highly.”
Ohtani is making his return to Anaheim on Tuesday exactly one year since his final game with the Angels and is enjoying some of the best offensive output of his career, on pace to achieve the first 50-50 season in MLB history. With the help of Ohtani, the Dodgers sit comfortably at the top of the NL West standings and seemed poised to take the future Hall of Famer to his first post-season in the majors.
You can watch the Dodgers and Ohtani face his former team on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting at 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT.